T’razzti Midnight Follies

Posted on 24 Mar 2016 @ 5:48am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Jayla Kij

1,800 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: New Risa
Timeline: MD 5 || 0000 hours

Jayla had been surprised at the set up on the cliff overlooking the water. She had expected to be seated on blankets on the ground, but there were actual chairs and they were extremely comfortable. The cherry on top was that they were shown to the third row when they mentioned that the Administrator had reserved seats for them.

"Wow," said Jayla as she took her seat. "See? Sometimes, it pays to be diplomatic."

Harvey's attention was otherwise focused on the large crowd that had gathered. "Indeed," he muttered. "Apparently, there is a large interest in animal mating rituals on this planet."

"Well, you have to admit, something that happens only twice a year and only on this planet is bound to draw a crowd," she pointed out, lounging comfortably in her chair. "Just sit back and relax. Nobody's paying you any mind. You're not a captain right now. You're just a tourist, like the rest of them."

"I don't think I've ever been a tourist before," Harvey replied, taking his seat. "What do tourists do anyway?"

"Take pictures, ask the locals to take pictures of them, go to all the cheesy things the locals hate, but put up with because it brings people- and employment- into the area," said Jayla. "Say stupid things like, 'they don't make 'em like this back home' and 'this is the way they do things here.' Laugh at everything you see. I'm sure I could come up with more things that obnoxious tourists do, if you'd like to try them."

Harvey had his arms crossed and had leaned in Jayla's direction, but his gaze had refocused on what was over the cliff in front of him. He nodded and spoke, "That's sound like a good list to start with. Though, I didn't think to bring a camera."

"Neither did I," admitted Jayla. "And I have a feeling these luminescent birds are going to be something we'll want pictures of. Oh, well, maybe there will be a souvenir shop." She peered at the Captain's crossed arms. "Loosen up, Harvey. You're supposed to be enjoying yourself."

"I--" Harvey was about to say that he was enjoying himself, but quickly realized that a lie would do him no good. "I am trying," he protested instead.

"Well that's a start," said Jayla with a grin. She gazed out at the moon. "I wonder if it always looks like big or if there really is a huge difference tonight. It's amazing, though, don't you think?"

Harvey's arms were still crossed, but he found himself in agreement with Jayla. "According to the astrometrics database, this moon is roughly forty thousand miles closer than Luna is to Earth." Pausing for a moment, he added, "I wonder how high that causes the tides to rise at the beaches."

"If I were a math teacher, I would make my students figure it out, then we'd come here and witness it to see if we're correct," she said.

"If you were a math teacher," Harvey pointed out, "I fear to think of who would be darkening my sickbay."

"Probably a math teacher who is currently saying, 'if I were a doctor...'" she said. "But, she might be even more cheerful than I am. I mean, she could greet you with a rosey-cheeked smile and a 'good morning, happy shiney Captain! How are you on this glorious morning of mornings?' You might want to shoot her."

Harvey grunted. "I don't think it's possible to find someone cheerier than you. And, if I do, there's a fair chance it's not natural."

Jayla opened her mouth to reply, but a bright streak of light caught her attention and she looked out at the water. "Was that one of them?" she asked, but no need. The lights illuminating the pathways were dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd.

Another streak of light, then another, flew across the water. In no time at all, the luminescent birds- who were each larger than a grown man- were flying across the water in intricate patterns, back and forth, back and forth. Somehow, Jayla had expected it to be chaotic, but it was almost choreographed. They wove between one another, glided in upward spirals, swooped and turned, flew at one another only to peel back and loop around at the last moment.

And the singing! It was almost a hum, really, rather than the whistle of most birds. The hum started out low and soft and gradually increased in frequency and pitch. There were almost chords in the humming, like they birds had rehearsed this song over and over to make it melodic, but had forgotten their sheet music at home. It was far more beautiful than she had expected and she sat there, mesmerized by the sight and sound.

Harvey had been hypnotized by their movement, flying, swirling, diving. Were he a mathematician, he would have attempted to discern a pattern to the birds' actions and coloring. In addition to the motion, Harvey noticed that several of the birds seemed to be in control of their colors. While they all had started in the same brilliant hue, whites and golds and blues began shifting before his very eyes.

As two birds would fly away from each other, their colors would become muted and their luminescence darkened. Once they'd looped around and drew near to each other again, their light would intensify as did their coloring. Even their song changed in pitch, beginning to complement and complete the sound coming from their potential mate.

He, while his eyes remained focused on the spectacle before him, subconsciously reached across and placed his hand over Jayla's.

Jayla grinned a bit as she felt his hand on hers, but she didn't move it. Instead, she reached across with her other hand and covered his in turn, her eyes never leaving the humming, dancing birds. They continued to wink in and out like lightning bugs- or fireflies, whichever term one preferred- as they wove in and out of one another. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen.

Harvey's gaze didn't leave the flock, but instead began to focus on two birds whose rhythms had begun to synchronize. The way their sounds and lights combined as they flew past each other seemed to indicate their bodies already knew what their minds hadn't yet embraced. After what seemed like minutes, both birds finally surrendered, entering into a formation as they swirled around each other just inches from the other's wingtips. As they sailed upward, their light grew brighter and brighter. Before long, both had cleared the horizon, and coasted into a stall; their light bright enough now to obscure the pinpricks strewn across the black velvet sky.

Both birds, wings still extended, plunged downward, only to catch a gust of current right at what seemed to be the last second. Harvey himself could not help but gasp like the rest of the crowd, hoping both birds were not falling to their doom.

Jayla gasped involuntarily. This whole thing was far more incredible than she had imagined it would be. She watched as the birds gradually began to pair off, still humming and dancing and twirling around one another. She couldn't take her eyes off it. Even after the last of the birds had disappeared from the sky, she still stared out at the moon, which was now alone among the stars.

Even the moon was beautiful. Unlike Earth's which had a simple gray tone, this moon had a soft powder blue hue to it, gently adding to the midnight lighting across the horizon and the cliff. While Harvey was enjoying the view, he slowly became aware of surroundings, including where his hand had placed itself and the gentle squeeze that it was giving.

Jayla returned the squeeze with one of her own. "That was amazing," she breathed. "Somehow, that's not what I was expecting." She didn't know what she HAD been expecting, but it was definitely not that.

"It was better than I expected," Harvey confessed, turning to see her brown eyes sparkle in the moonlight. He had thought it would be something akin to a nickelodeon, and of all nights, he was happy to be proven wrong.

The stunned silence around them had begun to be overrun by chatter. The surrounding lights began to glow again, an unfortunate confirmation that the show was indeed over.

"I wonder if they're selling holorecordings of that," she said. "Or we could just come back in six months," she suggested with a grin.

"Somehow I doubt a holorecording will do that justice," he commented, grinning as well.

"Probably not," she agreed. "I guess we'll just have to come back." She glanced around at the crowd attempting to leave. "Well, shall we fight them or just wait here until the aisles are clear?" she asked him.

"There's a third option," Harvey said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a communicator. "I could have the ship beam us out." Shrugging, he added, "Benefits of command red."

She leaned closer to him. "That means we could get to my quarters faster," she said, giving him a mischievous grin. "Or yours, this time, if you prefer."

"Who says we have to go back to the ship?" Harvey asked, looking out to the moonlit horizon in front of them. "We did just get here, after all."

"True," she said. "They could beam us to the beach just as easily. But, I don't think of you as an exhibitionist."

It took Harvey a moment to get what she had meant. It also was after midnight, and he had no idea where to look for a hotel, much less one with vacancy. The beach would have to wait for another day. Taking it upon himself to come to a decision, Harvey tapped a thumb on the badge to activate it. Within moments, both were surrounded in shimmering blue light which translated them to his quarters aboard the Black Hawk.

"Ooo, directly to your quarters," she said, pretending to be impressed. "You probably do this with all the girls."

Harvey could only lightly chuckle, purposely forbidding his mind to recall the last time he'd had someone of the opposite gender grace his quarters. "I'd give you the grand tour, but it's probably the same layout as the rest of the quarters on board."

"A bit more spacious, though," she said, glancing around. "You've got two sofas. My quarters can only fit one. What can you possibly do with two sofas?"

Harvey grinned, gently placing his hands on her hips and drawing her close. "Let's find out, shall we?"

She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at him. "Hm, let's," she said.

RSS Feed